jobactive is the main employment services program for Australian job seekers receiving income support. The current program began in July 2015 and will run for five years until mid-2020.

As of early 2017 the jobactive caseload stood at 738,938 job seekers, a figure that includes two significant sub-groups:

young people aged 15-24 years: 144,822 (20%)and

job seekers over 50: 188,004 (25%).

Delivered by 44 providers – a mix of nonprofit and for-profit organisations - the program is significantly different from its predecessors: the number of providers is much smaller, the geographic areas over which they deliver jobactive are much larger and the program’s payments to providers are weighted more heavily towards the employment results they achieve and less for simply for delivering services.

While the model was designed to put employers at the centre it retains a strong emphasis on contract compliance and jobseeker activation. jobactive is currently witness to several important policy imperatives, for example measures such as the Indigenous Outcomes Targets, designed to increase job outcomes for Indigenous job seekers, and the PaTH initiative, including the internships program, to address high levels of unemployment among young Australians.

Challenges for jobactive providers in 2017 include managing the impacts of the 18-month business reallocation process and the two year Maximum time with Provider rule which will see significant numbers of unemployed job seekers transferred to another provider.

Jobs Australia monitors events and issues in jobactive. We work with members to advocate for the best possible arrangement to assist job seekers to find sustainable work and to represent our members’ concerns in delivering the program. This includes advice on tenders and representation and consultation with the Department of Employment on changes to the program that affect our members’ operations.

News items and resources relating to our policy representation and our support services for members can be found on this page.

You can subscribe to news updates and upcoming event notifications by joining the jobactive interest group